I'm also working on stuff, six hours a day. "Stuff" includes Mom's website, school, college apps, and other sites if I start getting commissions. If all of those run out, it includes anything I can put on a resume.

I've tried this type of regime before, and it's always failed. To make sure it works this time, I'm going to use separate user accounts. But I don't feel I can do this with Windows 2000's user account system.

So...today I went out and bought an operating system from Microsoft. First time I've done that since Windows 98 came bundled with my first computer. Due to the complicated system of upgrades and editions, and my father's work schedule, I ended up spending about four hours at Microcenter. But I just laid on the floor in the books section and read the first third of this excellent tome, so it wasn't too bad. Ended up with an XP Home upgrade, which is basically the first truly multiuser OS Microsoft ever made.

Had I known it would take that long, I would have had my computer copying stuff while I was gone. But I didn't, so...I didn't. It's in the middle of copying my 6GB user profile over to my mom's box, which has plenty of extra space. (Books aren't hard on the drives, after all...) Once I'm done, and I'm sure I haven't missed anything, I'll boot up the installer, wipe the drive, use a borrowed-from-Dad's-office 98 CD and key to convince it to install (XP Home won't upgrade 2000, hence the waiting-around-to-talk-to-Dad-at-the-store), and have a shiny new system.

And I'll switch from the Fisher Price "My First Computer" theme to the silver "Awesome Except For That Horrible Green Start Button" theme, and shrink the goddamn title bars.

Be ready for many, many rants.

But this time, I'll leave ten gigs of blankness at the end of my drive. Linux will go there, when I have the time to install it.

"I've tried this type of regime before, and it's always failed. To make sure it works this time, I'm going to use separate user accounts. But I don't feel I can do this with Windows 2000's user account system."

I've been trying this recently, using other user accounts for such things as work and play. The idea of becomming someone else while at work, on the same machine, is somewhat amusing. Not unlike the masks & suits worn in the formal workplace.

I have also found that it works, to some extent. The free access to the wired from both accounts is a downfall. Hard network policy enforced rules like "no icq/aim/jabber at work" could be helpful as well (despite their huge usefulness for doing work in the wired, but that's another story entirely. Assume single-machine 'work'). I wish that it were possible to create user-specific network accessability filters. Or, can you?